Afghan refugee teacher Aqeela Asifi has won the 2015 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Nansen Refugee Award.

As a teacher, she has been recognised for her tireless and brave dedication to educate Afghan refugee girls in the Kot Chandana refugee village in Mianwali, Pakistan by overcoming the struggles of life in exile.

Asifi is a former teacher who fled from Kabul, Afghanistan with her family in 1992 for finding safety in the remote refugee settlement of Kot Chandana in Pakistan.

In the refugee camp she started teaching Afghan refugee girls by overcoming strict conservative cultural traditions which does not allow Afghan women to learn.

About UNHCR’s Nansen Refugee Award

Established: in 1954 by UNHCR. It has been named after the intrepid Norwegian polar explorer, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and statesman Fridtjof Nansen.

The award recognizes extraordinary humanitarian work and service of an individual, group or organization towards refugees, internally displaced or stateless people.

Award carries: Commemorative medal and monetary prize of 100,000 US dollars. The laureate uses the monetary prize to fund a project that complements their existing work.